VISITING JERUSALEM (3rd JULY, 2009)

My 16^th trip to Jerusalem brought me a surprise gift-an opportunity to visit the Western Wall Tunnels! To explore the 2000 year old historic and unique remains of the Second Temple of Jerusalem was an extraordinary experience. Taking into consideration that only guided tours are allowed inside the tunnels which has to be booked well in advance; we were really lucky to be a part of the trip. We obtained the tickets on the spot, as two girls who stood before us in the queue wanted to cancel their pre-booked tour inside the tunnels. Adding to the advantage, we were extra lucky to be part of a tour that was in English and not in Hebrew.

The story of Western Wall is like a Hollywood adventurous movie. Approximately 3000 years ago, a King (Solomon) builds a marvelous temple to an invisible, nameless and mysterious God. The most important part of that temple was a 15 x 15x 15 ft room called Holy of Holies. Inside this completely dark room, was a gold plated wooden box (4.27 x 2.56 x 2.56 ft) containing just two stone tablets, a rod and a pot! The room was virtually sealed from the outside world. Only one person, once in a year, the Jewish High Priest was allowed to enter the sacred place for a few moments with sacrificial blood in hands.

The splendour of the temple was so magnificent that it took 7-1/2 years, 180,000 laborers; 3750 tons of gold and 37,500 tons silver to construct this massive structure (I Kings 7:13, 5:6, 13, 14; I Chronicles 29; II Chronicles 2:17-18). Modern estimates put the price of gold and silver alone to be $56,000,000,000! The temple stood around 500 years before it was terribly destroyed, looted and habitants taken to captivity (Babylonians, 586 BC). After 70 years of exile, the captives return and rebuild the temple, though modest compared to the first (516 BC). Almost 500 years later, another King (Herod) decides to bring back its original splendour. He doubles the size of the temple complex from 17 to 37.5 acres, equivalent to the size of 24 football fields. Ironically, the refurbished grand new temple had a very short life of 4 years only. It gets destroyed (Romans, 70 AD) to dust on the same date as when its precursor was sacked. What remains in the brutal assault was only a wall at the western side of the temple that faced the "Holy of Holies". Astonishingly, this wall stood intact like an everlasting relic against all odds for the next 2000 years. Today, it is the sole remnant of the ancient Jerusalem Temple. More strikingly, the Wall is back in the hands of the descendants of the same people who worshipped in its precincts, some 2000 years ago.

Today, the visible "Western Wall" is 187 feet (57 m) long and 62 feet (19m) tall. However, the actual dimensions are much different. What you see is roughly 10% of the Wall's actual length and 60% of its height! The Wall is in fact 1,600 feet (488 m) long and 105 feet (32m) tall, most of which are hidden today, behind residential structures built along its length. The Wall consists of 45 layers of stones, 28 of them above ground and remaining 17 underground. In other words, 43 feet of stones, constructed by King Herod the Great (19 BC), lie beneath the modern street level. Among the 28 externally visible stone layers, the first 7 are from the Herodian period (First Cent BC). The next 4 layers were added by Umayyads in the 7th century AD. The next 14 layers are added in the Ottoman period by Sir Moses Montefiore in 1866. The top 3 layers were placed by Arabs before 1967. Most of the stones weigh between two and eight tons each, but others weigh even more.

After the Six Day War (1967), the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Israel began excavations at the site and discovered a unique tunnel that exposed additional 500m of the Western Wall. Twenty years of painstaking excavations have revealed new and unknown details about the history and the geography of the Temple Mount site. Many amazing archaeological findings from Hasmonean, Herodian, Muslim, Crusader and Mamluke periods have been gradually unearthed and are now open to the public. A visit to the Western Wall Tunnels is a heart touching experience and should never be missed by any one who loves Judaism, Bible, archaeology and history itself.

The Itinerary

Sede Boker
06.30 Metropolin 60 to Beer Sheva
07.40 Egged 470 to Jerusalem
09.30 Egged 1 to Western Wall

Western Wall, Western Wall Tunnels, Jewish Quarter, Zion Gate, Mount Zion, Last Supper Room, Tomb of David, St. Peter in Gallicantu Church, Akeldama (view), Jaffa Gate, Jaffa Road

14.10 Egged 6 to Jerusalem Central Bus Station
14.35 Egged 470 to Beer Sheva
16.00 Metropolin 60 to Sede BokeR